Undergraduate Production Design & Visual Effects

Colors, textures, layouts and props can greatly alter a film’s success. Production
designers and art directors can have a big impact in this regard, enhancing the story
through set design, props, mechanical effects, scene painting and décor. You can learn
it all in the Production Design and Visual Effects program at the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts. And with the variety of films produced at the school,
you will have ample opportunities to explore genres and techniques to build a professional
portfolio to launch you into a career with a production design degree.

Bachelor of Fine Arts

First YearFilmmaking is a collaborative art, so students in the School of Filmmaking are all
required to take a core set of classes to build a solid understanding of all filmmaking
elements. Classes in your first year will cover the fundamentals of production design,
screenwriting, directing, producing, picture editing, sound design and cinematography,
along with liberal arts classes. As part of your degree, you will take liberal arts courses. At the end of your first year, faculty will review your portfolio to grant acceptance
into the Production Design and Visual Effects degree program.

Second YearIn your second year you will be exposed to the technical and artistic skills required
in production design. Classes will cover basic digital design, drafting, sketching
and perspective drawing. You will learn how to discern a film’s creative requirements,
identifying and addressing both the logistic and creative concerns that may arise.
An Art Direction Workshop will walk you through the process of moving a design from
concept to completion on a professional film production, covering set decoration,
architectural styles, furnishings, and exercises in drawing, modeling and rendering.

Third YearYour third year will consist of more advanced classes in production design and visual
effects, covering topics such as computer-generated imagery (CGI) and color rendering
in order to better communicate with other departments. The third-year Art Direction
Workshop will build on your second-year practical skillset, and introduce new concepts
such as taking into consideration the camera and lenses used for filming in your designs.
You will also be required to take art electives in cinema studies, life drawing or
decorative finishes. A Production Design Practicum will give you the role of serving
as the Art Director for the year-three film projects. You will oversee all aspects
of the art department, scheduling, budgeting, script breakdown, set design, set and
location decoration, construction, finishing and strike.

Fourth YearYour conceptual skills as a production designer will be emphasized in your final year
as you screen and analyze major motion pictures, teleconferencing with industry professionals
on occasion, and learning the broad variety of styles of residential decoration. Arts
electives in cinema studies, life drawing or decorative finishes will be offered.
You will build upon your conceptual, technical and procedural skills in your Art Direction
Workshop, culminating in a professional digital portfolio. You will also be promoted
to Production Design on the year-four student film productions, and act as peer-counsel
to the year-three art directors.

Careers

Graduates of the Production Design Visual Effects program have started careers as
Production Designers, Set Designers and Art Directors for television series such as
“Eastbound and Down,” “Under the Dome” and “South Park,” and for major motion pictures
like “Mud,” “We’re the Millers,” “Vacation” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”